We might run outta digital ink today cuz there’s SO much happening in the AI space. 

Sheesh. 

We've got funding explosions, sneaky AIs, political drama, and Hollywood makeovers. 

Let's dive into the chaos and see what's really cooking in the world of artificial intelligence.

OpenAI's about to rake in $6.5 billion at a mind-bending $150 billion valuation. 

According to reports, Thrive Capital's leading the charge with $1.25 billion, while tech giants like Apple, NVIDIA, and Microsoft are fighting for a seat at the table. The minimum buy-in? A cool $250 million.

Here's the kicker: OpenAI's reportedly on track to lose up to $5 billion this year. 

(No clue if that report’s true, but it’s out there and legit.) 

They're burning through cash faster than GPT-4 can generate pickup lines, but investors are still throwing money at them like it's going out of style.

What it means: 

This funding frenzy isn't just big - it's historically massive. 

OpenAI's valuation is higher than the GDP of many countries. This cash injection means they're gonna push AI boundaries at warp speed, and everyone else could be eating digital dust. 

We’re not biased when we say this — your company should be learning how to prompt in GPT-backed environments. 

After all, both Microsoft and Apple’s advanced AI systems baked into their operating systems are backed by OpenAI. 

(Sorry Google and Anthropic.) 

It’s…… kinda here? 

Apple's fashionably late to the AI party, but they're making an entrance with the public beta of Apple Intelligence in its iOS 18.1 beta for compatible iPhones and its MacOS 15.1 beta for M1 and higher Macs. 

We're talking text rewriting, Siri on steroids, and photo cleanup that'll make your that annoying photobomber go bye-bye. 

But don't get too excited - you need an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, or a Mac with an M1 chip to join the fun.

And it’s still in beta, so the Apple Intelligence features right now are pretty light. 

What it means: 

Apple's SUUUUUPER late to the game, but with billions of devices out there, they could change the rules. 

This move isn't just about cool features - it's Apple's play for the AI data goldmine. 

We kicked the tires after today’s livestream. Our take? 

Meh. 

The White House is hosting an AI powwow in November, and it's quite the exclusive guest list. 

Government brainiacs from 9 countries plus the EU are showing up, but China's invitation got "lost in the mail."

(That’s not like a direct quote, but China’s unsurprisingly not coming to the AI party stateside.)

What it means: 

This isn't just a fancy tech conference - it's a power play on the global AI stage. 

The U.S. is trying to set the rules of the game without one of the biggest players at the table in China. 

In the end, though, this is something between good intentions and PR. 

There’s likely no meaningful international standards coming out of this meeting, aside from countries (hopefully) agreeing to a set of standard best practices. 

(In other words… the AI space is still gonna be the Wild West here in the U.S. with no actual laws or legislation.) 

Cali is fighting AI deepfakes with a slew of new laws. 

Governor Gavin Newsom signed bills addressing AI-generated deepfakes in political advertising. 

The law prohibits creating and distributing election-related deepfakes within 120 days before and 60 days after election days.

Social media platforms must remove deceptive content, and political campaigns must disclose AI-altered material in ads.

What it means: 

California's trying to take the lead in regulating AI in politics, which could set a precedent for other states. 

Makes sense as California is the AI and tech capital of the world, and this could ultimately put pressure on social media companies to make sure AI disinformation and misinformation won’t spread wild. 

(In theory….) 

The actual enforcement of this? We’ll see how it pans out.

Apparently, we need a new piece of hardware with AI in it? 

Whatevs. 

Anyway, former Apple designer Jony Ive and OpenAI's Sam Altman are collaborating on a new AI hardware project. 

They've secured $1 billion in funding and assembled a team of 10, including key figures from the original iPhone development. 

The project is based in a 32,000 square foot office in San Francisco. (Can we all like…. I don’t know… also work there for free since they have a crazy amount of space for 10 people? Thanks.) 

What it means: 

Let’s be honest — AI-powered hardware has been a HUGE flop. 

Aside from Meta’s Ray Bans, we’ve been very bearish on AI hardware. It all…. Kinda stinks. 

So, maybe Sam and Jony will fix that? 

But do we really need another piece of hardware aside from our phones and computers? 

Meh. 

Y’all, we told you like a year ago that 2024 would be the year of AI video and everyone thought we were playing. 

Turns out, AI video is literally gonna be hitting the big screens in more ways than one. 

Lionsgate partnered with AI firm Runway to create a custom model trained on Lionsgate's film and TV archives. 

The model will be used for pre-visualization, complex visual effects, and generating storyboards and animations. 

They’re not alone — Six other major Hollywood studios are reportedly pursuing similar initiatives.

What it means: 

AI video is here to stay. 

Love it or hate it. 

This partnership signals a shift in how movies are made, potentially speeding up production and enabling more complex visual effects. 

It also raises questions about the future of creativity and jobs in the film industry.

But at least AI video has improved and we won’t be watching those weird Will Smith eating spaghetti demos anymore.

Speaking of AI video….

Runway and Luma Labs have released APIs for their latest video generation models: Runway's Gen 3 Alpha Turbo and Luma's Dream Machine. 

This marks the first time major players in AI video have offered general API access.

What it means: 

AI videos….. .everywhere! 

Expect a flood of new AI video applications. They’re gonna seem like some brand spankin new AI video tool, but they’ll all likely be slapping a new UI/UX on top of Runway or Luma’s API. 

One things’ for sure — the potential for misuse and the blurring line between real and AI-generated video.

This odd pairing prolly wasn’t on anyone’s AI partnership Bingo card, right? 

Microsoft and BlackRock formed a $30 billion AI infrastructure investment partnership called the Global AI Infrastructure Investment Partnership. 

In short, we’re gonna need more infrastructure and power to complete all those OpenAI o1 queries, so Microsoft and BlackRock are trying to make sure all those queries have the juice (and infrastructure) needed.

The initiative aims to bolster American competitiveness through investments in AI infrastructure, including energy projects and data centers.

What it means: 

Expect to be hearing a LOOOOOT about AI infrastructure and power in the coming quarters. 

From Elon Musk’s investment in the ‘Gigafactory of AI’ in Memphis to OpenAI and Microsoft’s proposal for a $100 billion AI data center called Project Stargate, AI infrastructure is the new hot trend. 

Is there a new leader in the open source LLM game? 

Chinese giant Alibaba launched Qwen 2.5, a series of 13 AI models ranging from 1.5 billion to 72 billion parameters. 

These models have outperformed Meta's Llama 3 in key early benchmarks, especially in coding and math.

What it means: 

The open-source AI race is heating up, with Chinese tech giants proving they're serious contenders. 

These benchmarks are early, so we’d wait until the Qwen models have fully been torn up. 

Regardless, more open source players will not only push each other, but also accelerate development for the closed model makers, like Google, Anthropic and OpenAI. 

Salesforce is making it rain free AI education.

Salesforce announced a $50 million investment in free AI training through its Trailhead program until the end of 2025. 

They're also establishing a physical AI training hub at their San Francisco headquarters.

What it means: 

We’re big fans of free education. 

(I mean, we’ve done our free PPP course for like 7,000 people!) 

This AI for All initiative addresses the growing demand for AI skills in the workforce. 

It’s a strategic move by Salesforce to educate others on AI, while also really training people on using their tools.

OpenAI released its o1 model, with CEO Sam Altman claiming it represents stage 2 out of 5 on their path to AGI. 

The o1 model is a new class of AI focused on reasoning, separate from the GPT models and other LLMs that are, for lack of a better term, next token predictors (on steroids.) 

What it means: 

With Sam Altman acknowledging OpenAI has reached Level 2, which is reasoners, buckle up and get ready for the AI agents blitz. 

OpenAI’s GPT class of models have all the tools, like access to the web, ability to work with your data, advanced data analysis, etc. 

Once the o1 class of models get this, it starts a print toward AI agents everywhere. 

If you haven’t already, make sure you check our show from last week where we did a deep dive on everything AI agents.